Samuel Lionel Rothafel, known as "Roxy" (July 9, 1882 - January 13, 1936) was an American theatrical impressario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1920s.
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Born in Stillwater, Minnesota, Samuel L. Rothafel (born Rothapfel) was a showman of the 1920s silent film era. Best known by his nickname "Roxy", he was the impresario who brought the great New York movie palaces that he managed to fame and popular success. His career included running the Strand, Rialto, Rivoli, and Capitol theaters in New York. His greatest achievement was his eponymous Roxy Theatre in New York City which opened March 11, 1927. He later opened Radio City Music Hall in 1932, his last theatrical project. The Music Hall featured the precision dance troupe the Roxyettes (later renamed the Rockettes), which Rothafel brought with him from the Roxy Theatre.
Rothafel has been credited with many movie presentation innovations, including synchronizing orchestral music to movies (in the silent film era) and having multiple projectors to effect seamless reel changes. The book The Best Remaining Seats by Ben M. Hall (1961), gives a good overview of the movie palaces of the 1920s and, specifically, of Roxy himself.
Rothafel died in 1936 in New York City and is buried in Linden Hill Jewish Cemetery in Queens.
Roxy also made a name for himself on network radio, where he began broadcasting in mid-November 1922. Through 1926, live broadcasts of his weekly variety show Roxy and His Gang from the Capitol Theatre in New York became increasingly popular. One estimate from 1924 placed his typical radio audience at about five million listeners, and he was said to receive thousands of pieces of fan mail weekly.[1] After Rothafel left the Capitol, his radio show, now known as The Roxy Hour, was broadcast from the new Roxy Theatre on the NBC Blue network from 1927 to 1932.[2]